Changes in Family Composition: Implications for Income, Poverty, and Public Policy

Author(s): MARIA CANCIAN and RON HASKINS

Source: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , July 2014,
Vol. 654, Family Complexity, Poverty, and Public Policy (July 2014), pp. 31-47
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of
Political and Social Science

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24541731

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

and Sage Publications, Inc. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 This article discusses the consequences of family com
position for poverty and income and its implications for
policy. Marriage rates are declining, rates of nonmarital
births are increasing (both poverty-increasing), while
families are smaller, and there are more working moth
ers (both poverty-decreasing). Marriage remains less
likely and nonmarital births more common for blacks
than for whites and Hispanics, though even among
whites, 36 percent of births were to unmarried mothers
by 2011. On the other hand, divergent patterns across
Changes in education groups are more common: marriage rates
have continued to fall, but not for women with college
degrees. Men's earnings have fallen, and, after an
Family increase, women's have also declined—though less so
for those with bachelor's degrees. The article also dis
Composition: cusses policy responses designed to reduce nonmarital
childbearing (potentially reducing the number of chil

Implications for dren and families at high risk of poverty) and to help
single-mother families (reducing the risk of poverty

Income, faced by such families).

Keywords: marriage; nonmarital births; poverty

Poverty, and
Public Policy
We live
in in a time
family of bothand
composition dramatic changes
childrearing
and growing research on and understanding of
these family changes and their consequences.
As often happens when researchers, public
By
MARIA CANCIAN
Maria Cancian is a professor of public affairs and social
and
work, and an affiliate and former director of the
RON HASKINS Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.

Ron Haskins codirects the Brookings Center on

Children and Families and Budgeting for National
Priorities Project.

Note: This article was prepared for the IRP Family

Complexity, Poverty and Public Policy Conference.
The authors thank Marcia Carlson, Daniel R. Meyer,
Isabel Sawhill, and an anonymous reviewer for com
ments on earlier drafts; Deborah Reed for advice and
consultation on related analysis; Kimberly G. Howard
of the Brookings Institution for skilled data analysis;
and Emily J. Warren of the Institute for Research on
Poverty for additional research assistance.

DOI: 10.1177/0002716214525322

ANNALS, AAPSS, 654, July 2014 31

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
32 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

intellectuals, and policy-makers try to draw

findings, the nation now seems to be div
changes in family composition and their i
of families to meet modern economic and
horseman of the apocalypse? As Danie
"Everyone is entitled to their own opini
intend to put a bevy of facts on the table
of this article embody the split in the count
facts. In considering the consequences of
income, we begin with marriage, proceed
marital births. We then discuss implicatio
to reduce nonmarital births and support s

Marriage Rates

The most important fact about marriage rat

With one exception examined below, every e
has steadily become less likely to be marr
marriage rates by age (la), race/ethnicity (lb
age show a consistent pattern of decline for
lower ages shows the related delay in marria
20 to 24 were married in 1970, but by 2010
steepness of the decline in marriage rates
that many women simply delay marriage. St
age of women who are married at ages 40
showing the declines in marriage rates by w
differences in levels (e.g., lower levels for b
marriage rates for women with a bachelor's
and held steady for the next two decades, th
tinuing declines for the other education
degree maintained about a 70 percent marria
with less education continued to experien
would have been more successful at supporti
nonetheless precisely the ones most likely to
and base their decisions about family compo
is good for their own and their family's eco
social and intellectual development. Or per
for women who, all else equal, have more to
that these women have fewer opportunities

Fertility and Family Stru

In addition to major declines in marriage rat

there have been major changes in family

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 33

FIGURE 1A

Women's Marriage Rates by Age

. 40-44

• 35-39

• 30-34

• 25-29

■ 20-24

■ 15-19

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

FIGURE IB

Women's Marriage Rates by Race/Ethnicity

85.1

-White
-White

r-Hispanic
-Hispanic
■-Black
-Black

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

FIGURE IC

Women's Marriage Rates by Education

85.6

—♦—Bachelors+
-Bachelors+

55.1 -A-Some College

o
g -.-Some College
^ —♦—High School
—♦—High School

-•—Less
-•—Less
than High th
School

1970 1980 1990

19902000
2000 2010
2010

SOURCE: Authors' calculati

1990, 2000) and the Americ
figures exclude same-sex ma

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
34 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

FIGURE 2

Changes in Women's Family Structure at Age 35, 1970-2010

100%

90%

80%
■ Married without children
70%

60%
• Single without children

■ Single with children

50%
■ Married with children
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

SOURCE: Authors' calculations from t

1990, 2000) and the American Commun

percentage of women who live in a

at age 35 has declined from 78.1 to 5
in percentage terms: single with c
development in fertility over the
women who have children. The pe
dren at age 35 declined from 87.3
decline of 15.9 percent. Similarly
average number of coresident chil
in 1970 to 2.2 children in 2010. N
and 1990.
The declines in the number of children occurred among women of all education
levels and racial/ethnic groups between 1970 and 1990. As with the overall decline,
the decline slowed down considerably for all education and racial groups between
1990 and 2000. For example, Hispanic women had the highest number of children
(an average of 3.0 in 1970, falling to 2.0 in 1990, and then 1.8 by 2010), while whites
had the fewest (2.7 in 1970, falling to 1.6 in 1990, and then 1.5 in 2010). Black
women experienced the largest declines: from 3.0 children in 1970 to 1.6 by 2010.
The patterns of decline and stabilization were similar across the four education
groups, with consistent and substantial declines between 1970 and 1990, followed
by small declines for the least educated women, and stability or small increases for
more educated women between 1990 and 2010. Those with less than a high school
diploma always had the highest average number of children, and those with a bach
elor's degree or more always had the fewest. While more educated mothers have,
on average, more resources to sustain larger families, they also have more opportu
nities in the formal labor market that may serve as an incentive to have fewer
children so they can work more and more consistently.

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 35

An important feature of changes in f

dramatic increase in the share of birth
mid-1950s, the percentage of birth
every year until 2011. There was a s
by another substantial increase unti
1940 and 2011, the percentage of b
3.8 percent to nearly 41 percent. Th
declines in marriage, declines in m
unmarried women's fertility.
Figures 3a and 3b demonstrate that
for all racial and education groups s
among the groups. In 1970, 37.6 perc
white births, were to unmarried m
unmarried mothers had risen by ab
35 percentage points for blacks—bu
change for whites than for blacks. T
black births to unmarried mothers na
of black births to unmarried mothers
relative to the increase for whites (
cant gap remains, with 36 percent o
bom to unmarried mothers in 2010.
Vital Statistics, which are the origin o
people were Hispanic until 1990, bu
Hispanic births that were outside m
Figure 3b, which traces the rise in
els of education who are never-marr
large differences across education g
tially, but by 2010, 17 percent of m
were never-married mothers, comp
bachelor's degree.
Children bom to unmarried parents a
two-parent households. Many unmar
relationship at the time of the birth,
(Carlson, McLanahan, and England
half of cohabiting relationships dis
and even five years later, only about o
has married (McLanahan 2009). This
levels of family complexity. Mother
riage are more likely than their mar
with other partners. Some estimates su
bom to unmarried parents will be pa
parents with half siblings when their
ners (Cancian, Meyer, and Cook 201
adults with additional resources to t
likely to receive support from at lea
from multiple fathers (Meyer, Canc

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
36 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

FIGURE 3A

Percentage of Births to Unmarried Women by Race/Ethnicity, 1970-2010

72.1

53.4

t 50

35.9

ü 30 -

1970 1975
1975 1980
1980 1985
1985 1990
1990 1995
1995 2000
2000 2005
2005 2010

SOURCE: Authors' compilation of birth data from

for Disease Control and Prevention.

FIGURE 3B

Percentage of Women Age 35 Who Are Never-Married Mothers by Education Le

1970-2010

17.3

12.0

—•—Less than HS
—•—Less than HS . _
—HS
-■-HS X ^10-4
-*-Some
-*-Some
College College
-x-Bachelors+

3.2
3.2

1.6

00 !
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

SOURCE: Authors' calculati

1990, 2000) and the Americ
mothers with coresiding chil

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 37

less likely to maintain contact with hi

that includes his children and childre
Meyer 2012; Meyer and Cancian 2012)

Employment and Earn

The implications of changes in family

in large part on mens and women's em
1970, the median earnings of prime-a
with zero earnings, have declined b
reflects reduced employment rates as w
men. In contrast, prime-age women's m
reflecting both large increases in empl
women. In 1970, median prime-age
prime-age women; in 2010, they were
who actually worked, the earnings
2.3 times as much as working women
2010. Changes in men's and women's w
changes in family structure; fewer wo
and fewer men have primary financial r
shrinking earnings gap has also dra
quences of married and unmarried par
and access to a father's earnings, while
than in the past.
While the earnings gap between men
tion and racial groups, the underlying
the median earnings of prime-age m
(including those who did not have e
median earnings of about $60,000 thro
educated women's earnings more than
than $38,000. The earnings gap for m
narrowed both because more women n
ings have increased. In contrast, among
just over half of women had no earnin
zero, while the median earnings of me
by more than 60 percent, from about
men's and women's earnings narrowed
precipitous decline. For those with a h
significant decline in men's median ea
en's earnings contributed to reducing
While there is a substantial decline i
women overall, patterns differ by race a
median earnings were still about 75 p
($39,000 relative to $22,000 for men

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
38 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

FIGURE 4A

Median Earnings of Males, by Education

65,774
65,774
60,976
60,976

—Bachelors+
Bachelors+

«-*- Some College

Some College
-m-
-•-HS
HS

14,533 Less than

533 Less than HS

1970 1980 1990

1980 1990 2000
2000 2010
2010

FIGURE 4B

Median Earnings of Females, by Education

$70,000

$60,000

$50,000
38,618
38,618
$40,000 -»«-Bachelors
—Bachelors +

$30,000 —♦—Some
—A—Some College
College
20,630
$20,000
18,155^-' * —•*——— -■-HS

1011 -♦—Less
-♦-Less than
than HS

$10,000 3,274 -—
2,08i^i-— 0
$0 0 f5^ , » *
1970 1980

SOURCE: Authors' calculations from t

1990, 2000) and the American Communi

90 percent higher than women's

tively). The earnings gap between
fact, by 2010, the median earnings
and $19,000 for women), reflectin
that largely offset a relatively m
men.3 Thus, for black families, es
of single motherhood appear to ha
as we discuss further below, marr
intertwined, making it more difficu
tions for policy.

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 39

Poverty

The decline in marriage and increase in nonmarital births, all else equal, will
increase poverty. On the other hand, the reductions in family size will reduce
(needs-adjusted) poverty, and the declining gender earnings gap will reduce poverty
rates for single-mother families relative to married-couple families. But the patterns
of family formation and employment are unevenly distributed across racial groups,
contributing to different levels of poverty across education and racial groups.
Poverty rates vary greatly with family composition, education level, and race
and ethnicity. We examine the differences in trends in the official poverty rates
by each of these variables within married-couple and female-headed families.
Families headed by a single mother in 1970 faced poverty rates ranging from
57 percent for those with less than a high school degree to about 30 percent for
those with a high school education or some college. Very few single mothers were
college graduates in 1970 (6 percent in our sample), but their poverty rate was
just 10 percent. Families headed by married couples in 1970 had poverty rates
below 4 percent, except those headed by a high school dropout (about 12 per
cent). The differential poverty rates by marital status largely persisted within
education groups, even as poverty increased for those without a high school
degree (to 72 percent for single-mother families and 32 percent for married
parents), or only high school (to 47 percent for single-mother families and
13 percent for married parents), and less so for those with a bachelors degree
(13 percent for single mothers and 2 percent for married couples).
Comparing poverty rates by family structure and race/ethnicity again high
lights the key role of marriage: married-couple families have substantially lower
rates of poverty within all three racial/ethnic groups (Figure 5). Families headed
by white single mothers—the least likely to be poor—were nonetheless almost
twice as likely to be poor in 1970 as those of black and Hispanic married couples
(and five times as likely to be poor as white married-couple families). Poverty
rates fell substantially among black and Hispanic single-mother families in the
1990s, and then increased in most years in the 2000s.

Government Programs

Income from earnings is generally key to avoiding poverty: poverty rates for chil
dren from families headed by a single mother who does not work have been
above 70 percent every year since the early 1970s and between 80 and 90 percent
during most of those years. By contrast, the poverty rate for families headed by a
lone mother who works full time has hovered around 20 percent since 1970 with
only modest ups and downs. But both the federal and state governments support
substantial transfer programs, including those programs for which families must
have income below a given cutoff to qualify for the benefit. Federal means-tested
payments of this type were about $762 billion in 2011 (Congressional Research
Service 2012). If state and local means-tested spending is added, the total for
means-tested spending is around $1 trillion per year (Haskins 2012).4

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Q- <-> 7= ~ — >
w ra
•55 J2£> 1^ m ^
m >
x
X co
co >> _oj
_oj _oj
_oj _oj
_qj
qj _a;
ai _o>
a; Q.
a Q.
a Q.
a
01 ro ra 3 3 3
ECc C
C (_)<_>
O o o U
iî iî iî "a "o tj
ü ü Ü r r i
Û0 00 00 *- *- '—
ccC c
C ro
c ro
"
<75 i/i
«7> <7) ITS
<7î 5^ 2«E*E^

t t t

U-)

* uoz
f
hb \
{ 0X02
>1
\V 6002
8002

V T I 2002
> *
t 9002

f > r 9002

w
W)02
£002
* \ 2002
/ \

; y
1002

/ s 0002
y
' y 666T

y
r r 8661

> *
> > 2661

< y
1r/
9661

j
S66X
j1
FIGURE 5 f t?66X

<y *'
r' £661

,» 2661

*v <. X66I

T.*V^ 066T

f
t ? > 6861
■* 8861

«
>% I
286T

r-'"V
9861
«.*• /
r\
\ I
S86X
\
* >
> fr86X

\y £861

%V
286T
X86T
^ V 086X
K
Ji > \ 626X

y-;
<>
826X
226X

/
926X
S26X

*v
\ W.6X
£26X

rt
A 226X
PovertyRaesmongPrime-AgHadeFmileswthCildrenbyFamilStruc eandRce,1970-21 X26X
026X

piOLjsajiji
P|OL|S0jqi A^aAOd
A^JSAOd MO|0g MO|9g
lU03J0d ;ua3jad

40

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 41

Much of this means-tested spendi

families either to help them escape
erty line. In fact, arguably the mos
nation has developed is to encourage
to subsidize their earnings with th
Additional Child Tax Credit, food st
benefits. Analysis by Richard Bavier
ond quintile of income among fema
and $29,000 per year) had average ea
dollars), but many did not work.5
benefits, bringing their average inco
their children well below the povert
requirements of the welfare reform
income mothers worked. As a resul
nearly $17,700. But even at this leve
more than $4,300, on average, brin
poverty level on average.

What to Do

The facts are clear: marriage rates a

increasing (both poverty-increasing
working moms (both poverty-decre
marital births more common for bl
even among whites, 36 percent of bi
the other hand, divergent patterns
marriage rates have continued to fa
Men's earnings have fallen, and, aft
though less so for those with bachel
The causal story behind these facts
women marrying less because they
riage less attractive? Or has a decline i
earnings that could support a family
sity? Are more children born to unm
less important, or less attainable? In
debate and their implications for p
reduce nonmarital childbearing (pote
high risk of poverty) and to help s
poverty faced by such families). In e
the problem, the solution, both or nei

Reduce the number of single moth

For many analysts and politicians, th

family and rise of complex families is

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
42 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

marriage rates. In a simulation analysis b

(CPS) data, Sawhill and Haskins (2003) fou
marriage rate until it reached the 1970 level
less than 30 percent. One might object th
employment are interrelated (Cancian an
marriage rates of 1970, holding women's e
rary levels, unrealistic. But putting that a
for reducing the four-decade-long trend o

Reducing nonmarital births. While the

women has increased dramatically, the rat
per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 1991 t
Ventura 2012). Although it is difficult to ide
the Department of Health and Human Ser
programs that have been shown by rigorous
or teen pregnancy (Administration for C
her colleagues have identified two additio
tended pregnancy: mass media campaigns
expanded access for women to contracep
estimates suggest that the combined impa
marital births by only about 3 percen
Reducing nonmarital births by 3 percent
nonmarital births a year. It seems reasonable
continue to swell the ranks of female-headed

Increasing marriage rates. The Bush adm

sive strategy to test the efficacy of marr
through rigorous research demonstration
assignment demonstrations. The demonstr
Building Strong Families (BSF) study con
offered relationship skill training and o
Averaging across all eight sites, the evalu
either the couples' relationship quality or
together or got married after 15 months
however, had a pattern of positive effects o
skills, romantic involvement, coparenting, a
site had a few negative effects, including
36-month follow-up, both the positive eff
program and the negative effects from the
However, the Oklahoma program was agai
follow-up, 49 percent of the children in t
with both their parents as compared with 41
The second Bush demonstration prog
(SHM), was similar in many respects to B
survey are publicly available (Hsueh et

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 43

fairly consistent pattern of positive

there were no impacts on the couples
marriage programs provide very mo
grams will have an impact on marria
Perhaps the most positive outcome w
increased by about 20 percent the sh
36 months after the program began.
We both support the expansion of
nonmarital births and are confident
in the incidence of female-headed f
much money should continue to be
$10,000 per couple) healthy marriage
the cusp of learning how to increa
Haskins would recommend spending
improve the healthy marriage prog
activities and protocols being followe

Helping families headed by single m

Neither of us expects to see a substa

born to unmarried parents going for
be done to improve outcomes for chi
Federal and state means-tested prog
to single mothers and their children.
have grown, there has been a shift awa
the most limited resources toward w
low-income families with working p
Moffitt and Scholz 2010). This shift h
working (for example, by suppleme
the options and supports available to m
(for example, by reducing cash welfa
other restrictions). Because work is the
escape poverty, means-tested progra
and, ideally, enhanced. However, the sh
most vulnerable, including a growing
off (Ben-Shalom, Moffitt, and Schol
Despite some gains, women gener
educated single mothers will continue
poverty. The EITC and the refundab
are important work supports and sh
done to improve access to high-qual
mothers to work and children to rec
an important role in allowing single m
but they generally do little to help mo
We know less about how to help thes
facing multiple barriers, includin

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
44 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

limitations, as well as the need to care fo

et al. 2001; Lein and Schexnayder 2007; S
policy tools will be needed to help these f
With about half of children spending at
of their parents, an effective child suppo
especially when the resident parent (usua
Unfortunately, low-income mothers often h
larly limited prospects. And while they
partners and thus owed support from mor
have obligations to multiple families and
market. The child support system has bec
which the father has regular formal empl
lar payments due to unstable employmen
(Ha, Cancian, and Meyer 2011). If child s
of support, effective public policies that
and earn more will be needed (Cancian,
noncustodial parents who are providing su
to start (Carasso et al. 2008; Wheaton and
evidence of the advantages of policies dir
than diverting it to offset public costs (
Meyer, and Caspar 2008). We are both en
federal efforts to test programs that incl
enting programs, and in some cases child
Child Support Noncustodial Parent Emplo
the Parents and Children Together [PACT
Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage progra

Conclusion

There appears now to be enough research to support several conclusions that

most social scientists, policy analysts, and politicians should at least tentatively
accept. The first is that the changes in family composition and many of the vari
ous cultural and economic influences shaping these changes are now at least in
their fourth decade. The upshot is fewer married-couple families, more nonmari
tal births, and more children being reared in female-headed families. These
changes are in all likelihood here to stay, especially given our second conclusion:
although there have been some modestly successful policies that have at least
partially offset some of these worrisome trends in family composition, especially
in reducing nonmarital births among teenagers, taken together none of our poli
cies are very potent at this stage in their development. Third, there is agreement
that children living in female-headed families are at elevated risk of living in
poverty and facing a set of challenges to their development. In an age in which
returns to human capital are growing, the nation is allowing many children to be
raised in circumstances that undercut the chances for success in reducing poverty
and increasing opportunity in the long run.

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 45

These facts do not mean that further re

not yield more promising results. The autho
public resources we would devote to deve
reduce nonmarital births and increase ma
know enough to expand policies, program
share of children being reared in marri
prediction from historical trends in fami
cess of the policies that we have devised a
is that the nation will face continuing hi
children living apart from at least one of th
differ on the extent to which we believe
undermines human potential, as well as t
can mitigate single-parent childrearing. B
port working mothers' efforts to provid
and that more should be done to require and
children financially. If simple, stable, tw
it to the next generation to develop and
the risks associated with the family comp
lack of these types of families.

Notes

1. For analyses of decennial census data, we consider white non-Hispanics, black non-Hispanics, and
Hispanics; for vital statistics data, whites and blacks are inclusive of Hispanics.
2. Based on Brookings analysis of decennial census data for 1970 and American Community Survey
data for 2010. Census data were accessed from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series provided by
the University of Minnesota.
3. The differences in employment rates would be greater were incarceration reflected; individuals liv
ing in group quarters such as college dorms and jail are excluded from our sample. See also Pettit (2012).
4. The major programs that are not means-tested but that make payments to or for individuals include
Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, and Medicare; the major means-tested programs
include the EITC, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP, formerly food stamps), and other child nutrition programs, housing programs, employment and
training programs, Medicaid and other health programs, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families, social service programs, and some education programs.
5. Unpublished analysis obtained via personal correspondence.

References

Administration for Children and Families. 2013. Evidence-based programs. Available from https/Avww.
hhs.gov/ash/oah/oah-initiatives/teenpregnancy/db/programs.html.
Ben-Shalom, Yonatan, Robert A. Moffrtt, and John Karl Scholz. 2011. An assessment of the effectiveness
of anti-poverty programs in the United States. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper
17042, Cambridge, MA.
Berger, Lawrence M., Maria Cancian, and Daniel R. Meyer. 2012. Maternal re-partnering and new-part
ner Fertility: Associations with nonresident father investments in children. Children and Youth
Services Review 34 (2): 426-36.

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
46 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

Cancian, Maria, Daniel R. Meyer, and Emma Caspar. 20

substitutes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Managem
Cancian, Maria, Daniel R. Meyer, and Steven Cook. 201
perspective of children. Demography 48:957-82.
Cancian, Maria, Daniel R. Meyer, and Eunhee Han. 201
quid pro quo. The ANNALS of the American Academ
Cancian, Maria, and Deborah Reed. 2009. Family str
Implications for the level and trend in poverty. In
Cancian and Sheldon Danziger, 92-121. New York, N
Carasso, Adam, Harry J. Holzer, Elaine Maag, and C
policy: Encouraging work and family formation amo
Paper No. 28, Washington, DC.
Carlson, Marcia, Sara McLanahan, and Paula Engla
Demography 41 (2): 237-61.
Congressional Research Service. 2012. Spending for f
income, FY2008-2011: An update of table B-l from C
for veterans. Washington, DC.
Corcoran, Mary, Kristin Seifert, Sandra Danziger, and
TANF recipients: Do health, mental health, and dome
to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning a
of Health and Human Services.
Ha, Yoonsook, Maria Cancian, and Daniel R. Meyer. 2011. The regularity of child support and its contribu
tion to the regularity of income. Social Service Review 85 (3): 401-19.
Hamilton, Brady, and Stephanie Ventura. 2012. Birth rates for U.S. teenagers reach historic lows for all
age and ethnic groups. Washington, DC: Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.

Haskins, Ron. 17 April 2012. Trends in Means-Tested Spending. Testimony of Ron Haskins before the
Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, DC.
Hsueh, JoAn, Desiree Principe Alderson, Erika Lundquist, Charles Michalopoulos, Daniel Gubits, David
Fein, and Virginia Knox. 2012. The Supporting Healthy Marriage evaluation: Early impacts on low
income families. New York, NY: MDRC.
Kamp Dush, Claire M. 2011. Relationship-specific investments, chaos, and cohabitation dissolution fol
lowing nonmarital birth. Family Relations 60:586-601.
Lein, Laura, and Deanna Schexnayder. 2007. Life after welfare. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press.
McLanahan, Sara. 2009. Fragile families and the reproduction of poverty. The ANNALS of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science 621:111-31.
Meyer, Daniel R., and Maria Cancian. 2012. I'm not supporting his kids: Nonresident fathers' contribu
tions given mothers' new fertility. Journal of Marriage and Family 74 (1): 132-51.
Meyer, Daniel R., Maria Cancian, and Steven T. Cook. 2005. Multiple-partner fertility: Incidence and
implications for child support policy. Social Service Review 79 (4): 577-601.
Moffitt, Robert, and John Karl Scholz. 2010. Trends in the level and distribution of income support. In Tax
Policy and the Economy, ed. J. Brown, 111-52. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press and NBER.
Pettit, Becky. 2012. Invisible men: Mass incarceration and the myth of black progress. New York, NY:
Russell Sage Foundation.
Sawhill, Isabel, and Ron Haskins. 2003. Work and marriage: The way to end poverty and welfare.
Washington, DC: Brookings.
Sawhill, Isabel, Adam Thomas, and Emily Monea. 2010. An ounce of prevention: Policy prescriptions to
reduce the prevalence of fragile families. The Future of Children 20 (2): 133-55.
Shaefer, Luke, and Kathryn Edin. 2012. Extreme poverty in the United States, 1996-2011. National
Poverty Center Policy Brief #28, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan. Available from http://npc
.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief28/.
Smith, Lauren A., Diana Romero, Pamela R. Wood, Nina S. Wampler, Wendy Chavkin, and Paul H. Wise.
2002. Employment barriers among welfare recipients and applicants with chronically ill children.
American Journal of Public Health 92 (9): 1453-57.

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CHANGES IN FAMILY COMPOSITION 47

Wheaton, Laura, and Elaine Sorensen. 2007. The poten

to TANF families. Urban Institute Brief. Available fr
child_support.pdf.
Wheaton, Laura, and Elaine Sorensen. 2010. Extend
impacts and design considerations. Journal of Policy
Wood, Robert, Quinn Moore, Andrew Clarkwest, A
long-term effects of building strong families: A rel
parents. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Resear
and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human

This content downloaded from

129.97.125.2 on Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:28:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms